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(CIDRAP News) – Authorities in India's West Bengal state today confirmed a new H5N1 virus outbreak in the Darjeeling district, as agriculture officials in South Korea reported that the virus had struck birds in the eastern part of the country, pushing the number of recent outbreaks to 35.

(CIDRAP News) – An antiviral drug being developed to provide protection against smallpox and related viruses performed well in the first test of its safety and activity in humans, according to a report in the May issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

(CIDRAP News) – VaxGen Inc. announced this week the sale of its experimental anthrax vaccine—which the US government pulled the plug on in 2006—to Emergent BioSolutions, maker of the only US-licensed anthrax vaccine.

(CIDRAP News) – World Health Organization (WHO) officials today kicked off a 4-day meeting in Geneva to begin revising pandemic preparedness guidance for countries, amid warnings that the risk of an influenza pandemic has not waned since the last update.

(CIDRAP News) – After a 2-year study of the effects of large-scale farm animal production, a panel of experts has called for phasing out the nontherapeutic use of antimicrobials in farm animals in order to maintain the effectiveness of antibiotics in humans.

Editor's Note: CIDRAP's Public Health Practices online database showcases peer-reviewed practices, including useful tools to help others with their planning. This article is one of a series exploring the development of these practices. We hope that describing the process and context of these practices enhances pandemic planning.

(CIDRAP News) – Agriculture officials in South Korea said H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks have been reported in six of the country's nine provinces, while authorities in Japan announced today that wild swans at a two more sites have tested positive for the virus.

(CIDRAP News) – Technical barriers have prevented the widespread use of human monoclonal antibodies as potent diagnostic and treatment tools, but scientists now say they have found a way to produce antibodies against seasonal influenza much faster than was previously possible.

(CIDRAP News) – An H5N1 influenza vaccine based on a weakened adenovirus was tested successfully in mice and may offer advantages as a tool for combating a human flu pandemic, according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Purdue University.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday held a live Web seminar (webinar) to provide guidance on and field questions about school closures as a social distancing tool that could be used in an influenza pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – Calling the US food safety system antiquated and disjointed, a public health advocacy group today urged a major overhaul to make the system stronger, more coherent, and better attuned to today's major threats.

(CIDRAP News) – Toronto's city council yesterday approved a $1.5 million plan to treat nearly half of the municipal employee workforce with antiviral medication in the event of a pandemic scenario, making it the first major Canadian city to stockpile the drugs.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia today reported that a 3-year-old boy died last week of an H5N1 influenza infection, as Japan confirmed that the virus found recently in four wild swans was H5N1, according to news agencies.

Lili Sulistyowati of the Indonesian health ministry said the 3-year-old was from Manyaran village in Central Java and died April 23 after a respiratory illness, according to a Reuters report today.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has accepted the first batch of H5N1 avian influenza vaccine based on the H5N1 variant known as clade 2.2, which has spread most widely across Asia, Europe, and Africa.

(CIDRAP News) – Animal health officials in Japan were awaiting final tests on four wild swans that recently tested positive for an H5 strain of avian influenza, as authorities in Vietnam and India's Tripura state moved to quash new outbreaks caused by the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus.

(CIDRAP News) – The US government will need to expand its stockpile of antiviral drugs if the goal is to have enough doses to treat all patients and provide preventive treatment for some others at risk in an influenza pandemic, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) says in a report issued today.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced a ban on certain cattle materials from all animal feed starting next year, an action designed to protect animals and humans against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.

(CIDRAP News) – An Indonesian health official, responding to recent comments by the US health secretary, today denied that Indonesia wants financial compensation if it resumes sharing its H5N1 avian influenza virus samples.

(CIDRAP News) – A US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official today shared wrap-up perspectives on HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt's recent trip to Southeast Asia, which included discussions on virus-sharing and restrictions on the US Navy laboratory in Indonesia, updates on avian influenza collaborations, and talks on import safety.

(CIDRAP News) – An ongoing trickle of vaccinia virus infections in laboratory workers who handle the virus points up the need for them to be immunized, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last week.